Faerun: The arcane mage is still too imprisoned.

The dwarf's climbing skills were surprisingly good—although his legs were short, his arms were thick and agile, and he quickly climbed up.

His head peered into the halo.

"Holy crap!"

Greta sighed.

Finn's lips twitched again.

Cielsa looked up as the two figures disappeared one after another into the silver halo, and couldn't help but ask, "Lord Lance, what's inside?"

"Want to know?" Lance cast the [Magic Rope] spell again, then looked down at her.

"Why don't you go up and see for yourself?"

She hesitated for a moment, then handed Little Black to Lance and grabbed the rope to climb up.

I just climbed to the edge of the halo and poked my head in—

She was stunned.

Inside is a luxurious and comfortable space.

The walls gleamed with a soft silver light, illuminating the entire space brightly without being glaring.

The ground was covered with a thick layer of something that felt soft underfoot, like walking on cotton.

The temperature was neither too hot nor too cold, the air was fresh, and there was none of the stuffiness one would expect from a confined space.

Drak was already wandering around their space, touching this and that as he went: "Wow... this is what a mage is? No wonder mages are so precious, it's so convenient..."

Logan lay sprawled on the floor, exclaiming, "Wow, this is even more comfortable than my bed!"

"Dulak!" Lance called out from below towards the space where Dulac was.

"I am here!"

Upon hearing the sound, Durak rushed to the entrance and poked his dwarf head out.

"What are your orders, Lord Lance?"

“I’m not giving orders,” Lance said. “Remember to retract the rope, then the people outside won’t be able to see the entrance to the space, and they won’t be able to get in.”

"OK!"

Lance nodded, grabbed the rope, and climbed up in a few quick movements—with Little Black in his arms.

The moment they entered the space, Xiao Hei jumped down from his arms, its four paws landing on the soft ground. It paused for two seconds, then began sniffing around.

I found a comfortable spot, curled up, and started to sleep.

Cielsa put away the rope, and only the sound of even breathing remained in the space.

After a while, Cielsa quietly moved to Lance's side and rested her head on his shoulder.

Lance looked down at her.

Cielsa looked up and gave a simple, honest smile.

I slept without any dreams.

……

As soon as it was dawn, Drucker began his work.

Iron pot, cured meat, dried mushrooms, flour—the commotion he made was equivalent to that of three people.

Lance and Cielsa came downstairs feeling refreshed.

Meow~

Little Black let out a listless cry.

"Captain, could you please keep your voice down?" Logan, with dark circles under his eyes, squatted listlessly by the fire. "I only slept for an hour..."

"That's because you stayed up late!" Drucker retorted righteously. "Who told you to talk to me for so long last night?"

"Wasn't that what you insisted on saying?!"

"You'll just tell me whatever I want? Why are you so obedient? How about I let you go sell hooks, will you go?"

Logan: "..."

Greta opened her eyes, glanced expressionlessly at the two people below, and then closed them again.

Lance decided to take advantage of the time while Durak was cooking to scout out the kobolds.

[Summoning scout mosquitoes!]

A tiny mosquito emerged from the void, almost invisible in the morning light.

With a thought, Lance sent the mosquito flying eastward.

The scout mosquitoes' reports came back—trees, bushes, rocks… everything was normal.

Keep flying forward.

After flying for about twenty minutes, a low hill appeared ahead.

At the foot of the hill, there was a dark cave entrance surrounded by piles of stones of various sizes, and a few half-burnt torches stuck in the cracks between the rocks.

Two dog-headed men squatted on either side of the cave entrance.

It had grayish-brown scales, a thin body, a pointed mouth, and eyes that glowed with a dark red light in the dim light.

They were wearing tattered leather armor and clutching even more tattered short spears, muttering something to themselves.

Lance couldn't hear, but he could see—the two kobolds looked exhausted, clearly having kept watch all night.

One of them yawned, and the other patted its head with its paw, as if scolding it for being lazy.

The scout mosquitoes flew over their heads and disappeared into the hole.

The cave was much darker inside than outside, but Lance's dark vision was enough to see everything.

The mine shafts were transformed into a maze.

No, to be precise, it's a labyrinthine nest.

The passageway twists and turns, with forks in the road every so often.

Holes of all sizes were dug into the walls; some were where dog-headed people slept, while others were piled with bones and garbage.

The reconnaissance mosquitoes continued to be detected.

The further you go in, the wider the passage becomes, and the more kobolds there are.

Some were squatting in the corner gnawing on bones, some were picking lice off each other, and some were sharpening their claws—they were using rough stones to sharpen their nails, making a harsh "crunching" sound.

Lance roughly counted them; there were at least two hundred in the section he had just passed through.

There's more deep inside.

The passage suddenly opened up at the end—it was a naturally formed cave, with a diameter of fifty meters.

In the center of the cave stood a simple platform, and sitting on it was... a kobold a size larger than an ordinary kobold.

It wore a tattered robe that it had somehow acquired, a haphazard string of bone necklaces around its neck, and clutched a wooden stick with a skull tied to it.

[Target: Scala]

Race: Kobold

[Class: Warlock]

[Level: 4]

Twenty or thirty kobolds surrounded the platform, kneeling on the ground, banging their heads together and hissing.

Skala raised the stick and shouted.

The kobolds below immediately fell silent.

It started talking—hissing, squeaking, and cawing.

Lance couldn't understand a word.

Judging from the kobolds' reactions, Skala was probably giving them a lecture.

The lecture lasted about three minutes.

Finally, Skala waved his club, and all the kobolds stood up and scattered.

Lance piloted the scout mosquito to follow the squad of kobolds led by Skara.

They followed the passage, twisting and turning, until they finally arrived at another cave.

This cave was smaller than the previous one, but what concerned Lance even more was that deep inside the cave, there was a huge... thing.

The creature was chained by gleaming iron chains, huddled in a corner, its exact appearance obscured.

But Lance could sense it—

A sense of oppression could be vaguely felt even through the scout mosquito's field of vision.

[Target: Eye Demon Larva]

[Race: Bewitching]

[Level: 8]

Lance raised an eyebrow.

Level 8, not bad strength, but why are there Eye Demons in the Kobold camp?

but……

Lance's lips curled up slightly.

"This is a huge profit."

After searching the nest again to make sure there were no other powerful creatures,

He dispersed the scout mosquitoes and turned to walk back to the camp.

Durac was serving soup when he saw Lance return and quickly called out, "Lord Lance! The soup is ready! Come and drink!"